Wednesday, 28 September 2016

No, those are not typos in the title, but this is how the female rock duo Deap Vally from Los Angeles calls itself. I saw them tear up the stage at the Best Kept Secret Festival a few years ago when they just released their first album. Now they are back with a new record Femejism and are playing the small hall of Paradiso

This concert is free for anyone with a Indiestad pass, like me, and it fills up quite nicely. The two ladies kind of start a bit hesitant and clearly need to warm up. By the time they are warm the hall is completely full and the two crank it up a notch. Guitarist and singer Lindsey Troy is playing bluesy and rocking riffs, while drummer Julie Edwards is steadily playing her grooves. It's a good balance between the wild Troy who is howlin' and shredding her guitar, and the calm Edwards, who happens to have her birthday today.

It's hard not to compare their music to The Black Keys or Royal Blood in the heavier parts, since it is obviously following down the same line, with the combination of heavy blues rock riffs and basic but effective rock grooves. However the new songs offer more variation and you can hear grunge and stoner influences too. As the night progresses the two sound more tight on stage and at one point you're almost forgetting there are only two musicians on this stage. A small pit has formed in front of the stage where people are dancing wildly to the rocking music.

And indeed, it is hard to stand still or at least bop your head to songs like 'Royal Jelly' and 'Little Baby Beauty Queen'. Their manager and merch girl joins in on a couple of songs as well, while in the encore Troy invites people over onto the stage, which results in a small stage invasion. Especially Troy looks like she's having a good time tonight and I think that goes for most of us over here, who are enjoying this no nonsense rock music and energetic performance.